Easter Tornado

Our plan to visit family in Alton was ruined when a tornado hit the St.Louis Airport Friday night. We were really looking forward to seeing everyone and meeting my cousins’ toddler sons Max and Will. Since we couldn’t get a clear answer as to when the airport might reopen, we decided to reschedule. Traveling with Ellis and all of her stuff makes delayed flights and rebooking all the more complicated.

We tried to make the best of our unexpected Easter in NYC with a visit to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden on Sunday. The forecast called for rain all day, but we saw there was a dry window before noon. We dressed up, packed the rain gear and headed out. Boy were the weathermen wrong on this one! It turned out to be a gorgeous summer like day. The sun felt great. It was even so sunny that we ended up using our umbrella for shade and buying Ellis a hat at the gift shop.

Early Easter

Ellis participated in her first Easter Egg Hunt this morning. She did a great job spotting the eggs and putting them into her basket. She loves to share though so her eggs quickly made their way into friends’ baskets. I will tell her this story when she is a candy obsessed five year old and she won’t believe me! Here are a few other pictures from our indoor adventures as well.

Little Pink Coat

We found the little pink coat Ellis has worn almost everyday for the last five months at Clementine Consignment. It is so soft and light and the zipper is very gentle on little hands and skin. When we were at the Central Park Zoo last month, a mother came up to me asking if we had bought her coat at Clementine. She went on to tell us, in her lovely Italian accent, that it was from Italy and her daughter loved wearing it and would be selling another larger coat soon. What are the chances of such a sighting in a city of 8 million? The coat is made by iani mini.

Spring adventures

It’s been a busy few weeks here on Huron Street, mostly with work and freelance. Ellis has been busy as well, making us laugh, testing her boundaries and running around everywhere in her favorite “sshooz” (usually her pink snow boots). The past few weekends were spent strolling around the neighborhood, playing in parks, visiting the flowers we planted last fall, and enjoying our first outdoor brunch of the season. We especially enjoyed the newly opened Williamsburg waterfront pier next to the Brooklyn Flea. I thought Ellis might be ready for a little potty training since she was announcing her need to poop with a trip to the bathroom. Of course, as you can see, after attempts at demonstration, she has no idea what to do with her little seat. We’ll take a break for a while and revisit with a mini potty instead.

The first photos are from the garden of Ellis’s home daycare. Before heading home yesterday, she couldn’t resist a little time on the couch with her friends Max and Lulu. I love that she has so much space to run around in the garden and the playroom and it’s nice to have a more positive feeling about the building that took away our Empire State view! I only wish I could take a dip in their pool. It’s hard to walk past it everyday and not want to grab my swimsuit.

1.5

The first day of Spring was also Ellis’s one and a half birthday. The last six months have brought so many wonderful changes, most notably walking and talking. Erik and I have been making a list of her new words:

abierto (open) • Annabelle • apple • aqua • Astrid • Avery • baby • bag • ball • banana • bath • book • boot • bounce • bubble • bye bye • cheese • cookie • cracker • dog • down • ducky • eyes • go • Harper • hat • hello • Lulu • mama • Max • Meisje • more • nee • no • nose • papa • pee • poopoo • seat • shoes • socks • step • teeth • toes • uh oh • up • walk • water • wow • yes

The names of her friends, the cats and the Spanish words have been some of the nicest surprises. Instead of open, Ellis kept saying “abie”. Google translate helped us realize what she was actually saying. I am constantly having to remind myself that she understands more than she can say. When we were getting ready to leave in the morning, instead of grabbing her coat, shoes and bag, I asked her to bring them over. She collected everything with ease. Of course she wanted to wear her new rain boots from Oma and Opa when it was more of a sneakers kind of day. Erik is reading her many Nijntje books and speaking Dutch with Ellis as much as possible. Looking forward to hearing her first rolling R and guttural G. Her favorite toys are still dolls and stuffed animals. She just loves to carry them around, attempt to dress them, feed them, and give them water (like the monkey in the photo).

This morning Ellis had her 18 month check up. She’s still topping the growth charts at 29 lbs and 33.5 inches. I can’t believe she is over half my height!

While Erik was away,

I tried out life as a single mom. It was slightly exhausting. I have complete respect for any parent raising children on their own, especially my Mom with two under two. Ellis and I stayed busy enjoying visits from Josephine and Edwin and a play date with Matisse and her adorable son Benicio. Ellis was asking for her Papa at night, which was very sweet. I impressed myself by carrying Ellis, her stroller and our bags down three flights of stairs in one go. Going upstairs was a different story! As confident as Ellis is walking and nearly running, she still has a ways to go before climbing our tall apartment steps without going down on all fours. We were both delighted to see Erik after a few days and excited to hear all about Mauro.

Hallo Maruo

At the beginning of the month I flew to Holland to meet Mauro, Marijke and Adriano’s first child! It was weird to travel by myself but it was very special to see Mauro as a newborn. Marijke and Adriano are already such natural parents. It was also great to see my parents again in Deventer, where we had a nice dinner near the main town square (the Brink). I even got to ride a bike again! The last night I stayed over with Amke and Niels and had fun playing with Cedric and Julian. Then it was already time to fly back to New York. A nice, sweet visit. Looking forward to going back in July already.

Slaap Kindje

Untitled from Jenny Carrow on Vimeo.

I had posted a while ago about Ellis and her baby doll. I finally caught her in action with the camera. Today, she tried to give her baby a bottle with some water. Of course this made her baby all wet, so Ellis then requested a diaper for her doll. She can’t say diaper yet, but said “baby pee pee” and then pointed to the drawer with diapers. She then wanted to put her down for a nap in her crib and attempted what I can only call the world’s worst swaddle.

Aside from babysitting, Ellis enjoyed some nice long walks around the neighborhood this weekend. Yesterday, we strolled around Williamsburg, dined on delicious Vietnamese sandwiches, and played in McCarren Park. Ellis was completely fascinated with the dog run, which makes me look forward to a trip to the zoo. Today, we huffed it over to Long Island City. I just love the piers, waterfront and playground there. We had a lovely lunch with Henry at Cafe Henri (how appropriate) and thankfully Ellis went to bed early so I could enjoy the Red Carpet preshow for the Oscars.

Erik is flying to Holland on Wednesday to meet little Mauro. I am excited he’s making this special trip and am so happy for Marijke and Adriano.

Welcome Mauro!

Today was spent excitedly waiting for updates from Marijke and Adriano on the birth of their son. Just after midnight in Holland, Mauro was born! We can’t wait to see pictures, hear more details and meet our newest nephew!

Friday’s weather was a wonderful Spring preview. Erik and I took Ellis over to the Union Square Playground for a little fresh air. The entire city was out and smiling. A few people even pulled out the shorts and sandals, but it really wasn't that warm! After Friday, the weather remembered what month it was and turned crappy again. Saturday was the worst. We attempted to take one of casual weekend strolls around the neighborhood, but the wind nearly blew the stroller over. We’ve been taking it easy for the rest of the weekend and were planning a little day trip out to Jersey City for our Monday off. Sadly, Ellis came down with a fever last night, so we decided to keep her in for the day. I think this might be her 5th cold/virus of the season. Sigh. Another reason to look forward to spring.

Here are a few new photos, mostly around the house. Ellis enjoyed making milk art on the kitchen floor, petting the kitties and interning for Studio Vrielink. She was not so happy about the diaper rash she developed after wearing a different diaper from daycare. Thankfully it cleared up in a few days. Damn you Pampers Dry Max!